"There are all sorts of dances; the reel, the soft jig, the slip jig, the heavy jig, the hornpipe, figure dancing and set dancing. A lot of the set dances are based on events from years gone by or places in Ireland.

To be a really good dancer, you've got to work really hard at it and practice all of the time. However, I do think you gain a lot from it.

At times we all doubt ourselves, so its very, very important to have some self-confidence, to know where you've come from and where you're heading to."

Irish heritage

Tricia McCarthy began Irish dancing when she was nine.She lived in Thornton Heath with her parentsbut her grandparents lived in Ireland.

Tricia set up her own school in her mother's kitchen.She now runs Irish dancing classes and her pupils have wonmany national competitions.This dancing dress is embroidered with designs taken from the Book of Kells, a famous Irish manuscript.Each dress is different with designs chosen to reflect the individual dancer.

0 mins 0 secs

I Am Here

This sound clip was created during the
I Am Here project. The group of 14-24
year olds selected objects close to their
heart that also said something about identity.

I Am Here is part of Stories of the World,
one of the major projects at the heart of the
London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

"Hello I'm Stacey Nurse and I will be talking to you about a student's dance dress.

To me the dress symbolises how dance has changed and how things can change in a short space of time. I like the dress because the designs on the dress are designed especially for the individual dancer to portray their personality.

The dress relates to me because I used to

dance and when you dance you have to wear particular costumes depending on how you can dance in them and how they will look and depending on the music. Nowadays when you dance you don't wear dresses, you wear tank tops, baggy trousers, leotards, jazz trousers, but back then for Irish dancing you wore anIrish dancing dress.

Even though I like the dress, I don't think I'd would wear it, for anything. I like dancing because you can portray your emotions through your dance, unlike other activities. It helps you keep fit, it helps you to portray how you feel and you just have fun.

Nowadays girls when they dance are dressed more like boys and some boys dress like girls when they dance, such as: The New Boys and Audio Bush, in the way that they wear girls'

skinny jeans to do street dancing. Now when girls do street dancing they wear baggy trousers and tank tops. I have been Stacey Nurse and I hope you've enjoyed my podcast about how it was then and how it is now."